Tag: #discoverscotland

Without further delay let’s continue our road trip to St Andrews and Knockhill Farm where we will be spending the night.

Our next stop was Dalgety Bay. The 8th largest town in Fife. We did not spend a lot of time exploring Dalgety Bay due to a very long list of places still to see. Also at this stage I was struggling with the Tom Tom trying to get to the places of interest on our list…. We were trying to find Donibristle Stable Block but ended up with a view of the Fourth Road Railway Bridge instead. Not that I am complaining. The views and flowers were stunning.

Our next stop on our list was Cornerstone Full Gospel Church. I got the names on my Google Maps when I planned our trip. What I did came to realize on our Grand Tour of Scotland was that the names on Google Maps and the names on the signboards are not always the same….

Dad and I saw the church on our way to Dalgety Bay and on our way back we took the turnoff to the church. Next to the church I found this beautiful cottage with fields and sheep.

I walked up to the gate to see if I could enter and it was open so I walked inside and took a few photo’s. Now this is what I call a peaceful place. Normally I don’t like walking in graveyards, but one thing that stood out for me was how peaceful it was here. Maybe it is the surrounding pastures with sheep and horses grazing. One don’t even hear the cars passing on the road to and from Dalgety Bay.

Love the shape of the trees.

Horses Grazing in pastures

Dalgety Kirkyard

Cornerstone Church from the turnoff

Thank you for visiting Dalgety Bay with us. Our next stop is Aberdour and I am looking forward to sharing some of the photo’s taken in this beautiful town.

At long last we can start our next phase of our Grand Tour of Scotland. We will be driving along the coast to St Andrews where we will spend the night at Knockhill Farm. I must admit I was very nervous on that Cloudy Tuesday morning. This would be my first time driving in Scotland and I did not know what to expect. The only comfort for me was that I am use to driving on the left side of the road.

Our driver that picked us up at the airport on Sunday gave me a few tips and told me to avoid the bus lanes and that I should never park in parking places for taxi’s. He also explained to me how the passing place work.

The people at Arnold Clark was very friendly and before I knew it we were on our way to Inverkeithing our first stop.

We stopped in the first parking lot we could find and from here we walked and explored for a while. While touring through Scotland I fell in love with the buildings, the decor and details on the buildings, the shapes and sizes of the windows, the colorful and detailed doors and lastly the bright colors used to paint the houses and shops. I we could I think we would have stayed much longer in the different towns and I would have taken building by building, street by street to make sure I capture every little detail….. But we have to cover around 100 to 180 miles per day depending on our route and we had to be at our final destination for the day at a certain time… This was one of the reasons we decided that our next tour of Scotland we will do in a campervan and we will stay in Scotland for about 76 days.

Queens Hotel

Central Bar

Queens HotelThe Church of Scotland /Inverkeithing Parish ChurchKirkyardThe Church of Scotland/Inverkeithing Parish ChurchThe Church of Scotland/Inverkeithing Parish ChurchMemorialBeautiful Buildings

It took me a while to get use to driving 20 miles per hour. But I made sure that I kept below the speed limits just to make sure I do not get a ticket. Now let me explain why the speed difference was so difficult. Here in South Africa the speed limit in our towns is 60 Kilometre per hour that equals around 37 miles per hour. The most confusing part while driving was you get a sign that says 40 Miles per hour then about 2 meters after that it is either 30 or 20 miles per hour. For someone who is driving in Scotland for the first time it is very nerve wrecking, but by the end of the day I figured out the pattern….

20 Miles per hour….

In our rental car we had a Tom Tom and oh my word did it frustrate the living daylights out of me. First when I type in a castle name or Church name it kept saying not found. Now before we came to Scotland I mapped out our tour in Google maps and saved it to my phone. All the places on our list was on google maps but for some reason I could not find it on the Tom Tom not even when I typed in Street addresses. So when I saw that some streets have more than one name it started to make sense. I switched to my google maps on my phone and only used the Tom Tom as guide to the flow of the road ahead.

2 Streetnames next to each other. No wonder the Tom Tom got confused2 Streetnames next to each other?Red Door….Window and Mustard Yellow WallMercat Cross Circa 1400Mercat Cross Circa 1400Mercat Cross Circa 1400Mercat Cross Circa 1400Royal Mail PostboxWelcome to InverkeithingInverkeithing Civic CentreMerchant Ships CanonThe Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsThe Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsView from the garden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsView from the garden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsGarden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsShed atThe Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsBeautiful door at The Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsWall and window at The Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsThe Old Hospitium of the Grey FriarsThe Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars Garden entryDivit Barbers

After exploring we remembered the sign at the church that offered Tea, coffee and Home baking. Dad and I decided that we still have time for a nice cup of tea before we leave for our next stop.

We were welcomed with open arms and felt right at home. We sat down at a table and it was not even a few seconds when the first man came to greet us. Dad and he hit it off and talked about Scotland and South Africa. He was a retired doctor and he came to visit a few times here in South Africa around 15 years back. Dad explained to him how everything has changed and that now a days one can’t just go out at night and walk as you please it is to dangerous.

While Dad and the retired doctor talked I excused myself and went and took some photos of the beautiful windows of the church.

Thank you for reading my post and I truly hope you enjoyed the photos. Our next stop is Dalgety Bay.

At long last I can post about our night at The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo…

Dad loves bagpipes since I can remember he played a 7 single with bagpipe music on it. He always said that before he closes his eyes permanently he want’s to go to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo…

Then in March 2018 he got very sick and was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. One day out of the blue he asked me if I could choose any place overseas to visit where would I like to go… “I have a list as long as the National road” I told him…

Then I remembered his words and said Scotland. Dad asked me to see when the Military Tattoo is his only demand for our holiday was that it includes the Military Tattoo…. After doing some research I contact Nordic Visitor for a quote and put the plans in motion. Sarah told me that I better book our tickets for tattoo early because it sells out very fast. 24 January 2019 I booked our tickets for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August 2019.

Dad was super excited and I could see in the way he walked that he could not get there fast enough… I did take some random photos while walking…

Sunflower

Ampersand

The Magnum

Dad on his way to the Military Tattoo

The Portrait Gallery

Portrait Gallery

Tram tracks

Tram tracks

Louis Vuitton

Oor Wullie Statue

Scott Monument

Oor Wullie Statue

Waverley Station Train tracks

Giant Wheel

The Mound – Black Watch Memorial

Dad was so excited that not even the stairs was to much for him. The closer we got the less dad talked… He was getting a bit emotional…

The views behind the stands was so beautiful I could not just pass. So while dad was visiting the bathroom before heading to our seats I took the opportunity to capture it.

Thank you for joining us on our way to the Military tattoo. I won’t be saying much in my next post. Will mostly be photos of the Tattoo.

Hope everyone had a good nights rest and ready for the day. I did not really sleep much. My brain is working overtime. I worry about COVID 19 interfering with our plans to visit Scotland again form May 2021 till August 2021. If we are not allowed to travel in 2021 then I must postpone it to April 2022 till July 2022. We have to travel in spring and summer because the main purpose of this trip is so that I can capture Puffins. We also would like to see the rest of Scotland that we missed….

Either way if I continue to post only now and then I will never finish in time before our next trip to Scotland even if we leave in 2022. I also still have some places I visited here in South Africa that I need to edit. But I work from first captured to last….

Here I am back again hoping to finish our walk back to our Guest house today. I still need to post about The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo also before we can hit the road and continue with the rest of our Grand Tour of Scotland.

Two Giraffes in front of the Omni Centre

Two Giraffes in front of the Omni Centre

Oor Wullie in front of Omni Centre

The Glasshouse

Oor Wullie in front of The Glasshouse

The Glasshouse

The Glasshouse Clock Tower

My first thought when I saw the Omni Centre and The Glasshouse was “WOW that’s a lot of Windows to keep clean…. How on earth do they do it? The Glasshouse is a beautiful building…

Very busy Leith Street

Cycling Musician on Leith Street

Just look at how busy the streets of Edinburgh is. We don’t even talk about parking that is one big headache… The best mode of transport might just be to Cycle from point A to B. I prefer to rather walk… I love cycling but my balance is not that great and when I see a robot, stop street or even a car I start to panic…. That is why I put my bicycle in my car and drive to a quiet road or a farm stall park there and cycle from there…

Theater Royal Bar

Theater Royal Bar

Theater Royal Bar

Theater Royal Bar

Theater Royal Bar

Theater Royal Bar

Theater Royal Bar

The Theater Royal Bar is situated next to the famous Playhouse Theater on Leith Walk. I just love the decor of this building…. The hanging flower baskets just makes one feel so happy.

Walking on Haddington Place

Pizzeria

Picture Framer

Fox on the ledge….

U Save

Victoria Barbers

Well just around the corner is Ben Cruachan Guest House on MacDonnald Street….

We had about two hours before we had to get ready for our walk back to Edinburgh Castle where The Edinburgh Royal Military tattoo was held…. I went outside and took a few photo’s of the garden before I made us a nice cup of coffee and we talked about the day and how excited we were to go see the Tattoo….

Thank you for joining us on this last stretch back to our Guesthouse. In my next post I will be sharing some photo’s taken on route to the Tattoo and of the Tattoo itself.

Good Morning friends and followers. I hope that your lockdown is also very productive. I must say mine has been so far. I ticked off a few task on my to do list so far.

I am busy reorganizing my kitchen one cupboard at a time. Still a few to go…

Since this weekend I have been organizing my photos of our Grand Tour of Scotland. Putting the photos into folders. This makes it easier for me to do my research on all the places we have visited and also to see 1400 photos in 1 folder for 1 day gets a bit overwhelming, but 150 photo’s is much better… I would like to finish editing before we go on our next Scotland Tour….

I have finished planning our route just need to fine tune it and do some more research on traveling in campervan and Wild Camping in Scotland. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Okay enough of that let’s get back to our walk back to Ben Cruachan Guesthouse…

The Scotsman Hotel

The Balmoral

The Balmoral Clock tower

The Balmoral

The Balmoral Hotel is such a beautiful building. I wonder how it looks inside? In my imagination it would be fit for a King and Queen…. Next time I will arrange to have a peek inside….

“The statue of the Duke of Wellington outside Register House was unveiled in a highly patriotic ceremony on 18 June 1852, the thirty-seventh anniversary of his greatest victory at Waterloo. Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon was regarded as ensuring the freedom not only of Britain but of Europe in general. “

Waterloo Place Home of Rabbies Tours

Waterloo Place Home of Rabbies Tours

Waterloo Place Home of Rabbies Tours

Dad and I encountered multiple meetings with one of Rabbies Tours tour busses while exploring Scotland and some of the islands. Only while editing I realized that I captured one of the buildings they occupied.

Leith Street

Walking down Leith Street

Walking down Leith Street was an experience. They were working on buildings and also the road. The beautiful hanging flower baskets caught my eye…. I just loved it…. But more next time….

Good day everybody. Hope you are all well and are staying safe. Let’s continue our walk…

We crossed the street and walked towards Waverley Station. I turned around just for a quick photo of Cockburn Street. Turning back I captured Scott Monument from a far… The road was very busy and my arms and back were beginning to ache. Carrying your camera in your hand the whole day is starting taking it’s toll….

It does not matter from what side you capture this monument the craftsmanship and detail are extraordinary. I am looking forward to our next visit…. We reached Princess Street not that far from our Guesthouse now….

Good day to all my followers and internet friends. I hope that you are all well and staying safe…. Well let’s continue our walk back to our guesthouse…

Dad and I got thirsty and was looking for a place to sit and relax for a few minutes. All the places on the Royal mile was packed and we came across Kirks a very cozy bar/restaurant next to the stairs of the The News steps. We each had a glass of Coke and a well deserved rest.

The views outside was spectacular. You can see Carlton Hill from here.

We then tackled the The News Steps. It took dad a while till he reached the bottom. He joked about it and said he took it step by step…

We then reached Cockburn Street. I have seen so many photo’s on Instagram of this street that I put it on my list of places of interest…. Looking forward to exploring it some more on our next visit to Edinburgh.

Some of the views of Carton Hill and Beautiful buildings before crossing the street…. The Edinburgh Dungeon is also on our places of interest list for our 2021 Tour of Scotland.

That is all for now. Thank you very much for taking the time to join us and wander the streets of Edinburgh…

On our way back to our Guesthouse we passed the Elephant House. According to our planning we were supposed to have a cup of tea here, but there were not space for a mouse inside…. So instead I took a photo and said to myself next time….

As you can see it was difficult taking photo’s here in Old Town in Edinburgh. August is definitely an ideal time to visit Edinburgh to capture buildings. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed my stay so much that we are planning to visit Edinburgh again in 2021, but this time in May and not for 1 day but at least 3 to 5 days… It all depends how my planning for the rest of our 76 days in Scotland goes… But I would really like to spend more time in this beautiful city…

Above is some photo’s I took of St Giles Cathedral. Would have loved to go inside, but the crowds was just to much and I am not really a fan of crowds of people. So till next time.

Thank you for joining us again wandering through the busy streets of Edinburgh….